The field of the disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for regulating loads in planetary gear assemblies and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for regulating stresses in ring gears of planetary gear assemblies.
Known planetary gear assemblies typically include an outer ring gear, a central or sun gear, and a plurality of planet gears disposed between the outer ring gear and the central gear and configured to engage both the ring gear and the central gear. During operation, a drive applies a rotational force to at least one of the ring gear, the plurality of planet gears, and the central gear, thereby inducing rotation of one or more of the other planetary gear assembly gears. To induce rotation, force is transferred via the teeth of a first gear to the complementary teeth of a second gear. The application of this force generally induces stresses within both the first and second gear. Such stresses can lead to fatigue and failure of the gears, particularly in areas prone to high localized stresses including, without limitation, the roots of one or more of the ring gear, the planet gears, and the sun gear, and other structural features of the gears, such as cutouts, holes, rigid couplings, and the like.